Text to Speech That Makes Reading Easier
CastReader reads any webpage aloud while highlighting each paragraph — so you hear and see the words at the same time. Dual-channel input reduces decoding effort and keeps your place on the page. Free, no account needed.
Why CastReader Helps Dyslexic Readers
Built for how your brain actually processes text
Dual-Channel Input
Hear It While You See It
Research shows combining audio with visual text significantly improves comprehension for dyslexic readers. CastReader highlights the current paragraph on the actual page as it reads aloud — your eyes follow the highlight while your ears process the words. No separate reader view that strips away context.
Reduce Decoding Load
Stop Fighting the Text
Dyslexia makes decoding — converting letter shapes into sounds — effortful and slow. Text-to-speech handles the decoding for you, freeing your working memory to focus on meaning. CastReader uses natural AI voices that handle emphasis, pauses, and rhythm, making comprehension easier than robotic system voices.
Keep Your Place
Never Lose Where You Are
Line-skipping and re-reading are common with dyslexia. CastReader's paragraph highlighting anchors your attention to exactly where the audio is on the page. Click any paragraph to jump there. The page auto-scrolls as it reads — no manual scrolling needed.
Speed Control
Read at Your Own Pace
Slow the voice down to 0.5x for difficult passages. Speed up to 2x for easy material. CastReader adjusts instantly. Everyone reads at a different pace — and your pace changes depending on the text. No shame, no pressure, just a slider.
Works Everywhere
Any Website, Any Document
News articles, textbooks, emails, Kindle ebooks, PDFs, Google Docs, Wikipedia — CastReader reads them all. It extracts article content automatically, skipping ads, navigation, and cookie banners. One extension for everything you need to read online.
How Text to Speech Helps with Dyslexia
Dyslexia affects roughly 15-20% of the population. It's not about intelligence — it's about how the brain processes written language. The core difficulty is decoding: converting visual letter patterns into the sounds and words they represent. This makes reading slow, effortful, and exhausting. After a paragraph or two, many dyslexic readers hit a wall where the effort of decoding overwhelms their ability to retain meaning.
Text-to-speech tools address this directly. When a TTS tool reads text aloud, it handles the decoding step. The reader's working memory is freed to focus on comprehension — understanding what the words mean, connecting ideas, building mental models. Research from the Yale Center for Dyslexia & Creativity shows that audio-supported reading can improve reading comprehension scores by 25-40% for students with dyslexia.
But not all TTS tools are equal. Many read text in a separate window, stripping away the original page formatting. This breaks the visual connection between what you hear and what you see. CastReader is different: it highlights text directly on the original page, preserving the layout, images, and formatting. This dual-channel approach — seeing the highlighted text while hearing it read aloud — creates stronger memory encoding and better comprehension than audio alone.
CastReader also handles the sites that matter most for students and professionals with dyslexia: academic papers on Google Scholar and arXiv, textbooks on Kindle Cloud Reader, documentation on Notion and Google Docs, and millions of regular websites. It's a free Chrome extension with no word limits, no signup, and no subscription. Install it once, and every website becomes accessible.
Frequently Asked Questions
Common questions about text to speech for dyslexia
Does text to speech help with dyslexia?
Yes. Research consistently shows that TTS improves reading comprehension for dyslexic readers by handling the decoding step — converting text to sound — that dyslexia makes difficult. This frees working memory for comprehension. Dual-channel input (hearing + seeing highlighted text simultaneously) is particularly effective.
What is the best free text to speech tool for dyslexia?
CastReader is the best free TTS tool for dyslexic readers who spend time online. It reads any webpage aloud with paragraph highlighting on the actual page, uses natural AI voices, and has no usage limits. For desktop files (PDF, Word), Balabolka is also free. For phones, use your device's built-in accessibility features (Speak Screen on iPhone, Select to Speak on Android).
Is CastReader free for dyslexic students?
CastReader is free for everyone — no student discount needed because there's no cost. No signup, no subscription, no word limits, no trial period. Install it from the Chrome Web Store and start using it immediately.
Can CastReader read textbooks and academic papers?
Yes. CastReader reads Kindle Cloud Reader ebooks (the only extension that works due to Amazon's font encryption), Google Docs, PDFs in the browser, arXiv papers, Wikipedia, and any regular webpage. It extracts the article content and skips navigation, ads, and other page clutter.
Does CastReader work with screen readers like VoiceOver or NVDA?
CastReader is not a screen reader — it's a text-to-speech reading tool. Screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA, JAWS) are designed for blind and low-vision users and control the entire OS interface. CastReader is for sighted users who benefit from hearing text read aloud while following along visually. They serve different needs and don't conflict with each other.
What's the difference between a screen reader and text to speech for dyslexia?
Screen readers (VoiceOver, NVDA) navigate the entire UI — buttons, menus, everything — for users who can't see the screen. TTS tools like CastReader read the content of a page aloud while you follow along visually. For dyslexia, you want TTS with visual highlighting, not a full screen reader. The visual-audio pairing is what helps with comprehension.
Can I adjust the reading speed?
Yes. CastReader's speed control goes from 0.5x to 3x. Slow it down for dense academic text, speed it up for light reading. You can also click any paragraph to jump to it and skip sections you don't need.
Does CastReader support OpenDyslexic font?
CastReader reads the page as-is and highlights paragraphs. For font changes, use a separate extension like Helperbird or OpenDyslexic Font. CastReader works alongside font-changing extensions — you can use both at the same time for the best reading experience.
Start Listening Now
Completely free. No signup. No limits. Install and start listening.